The Shadow
by keatoncool
Summary: Regina and Snow spent several years together in a quiet Castle, each suffering in their own way. Soon a time will come where they will have to turn to their pain into something different. This is how Snow came to the light and how the Queen became Evil.
1. Chapter 1

AN: No Copyright Infringement Intended.

Warning: This Story contains abuse.

She takes a deep breath inwards focusing deeply on her anger. But she feels the rage too acutely and with that comes an overwhelming feeling of pain. It takes over the fury that fuels the small flames that flicker on her finger tips and abruptly extinguishes them. The pain takes over and Regina cannot feel the frustration as she once again fails at magic. She solely clutches her hand together and doesn't fight the tears that fall from her eyes.

She is too hurt for magic.

There is no knock at her door, no introduction to the person passing the threshold. It is late and even though it does not surprise to Regina to find herself with company it increases the pain in her chest as fear is added to her mix of emotions.

"My king," She says coolly sensing the man's presence, not only through his sweaty stench but the darkness he brings along with him. The air becomes thick and lodges in Regina's throat. And somehow the turmoil she felt earlier seems like nothing compared to the dread that arises as her husband tosses himself on her bed.

He doesn't say anything, just watches her expectantly and she takes daring steps towards him. Inside her stomach is burning, her heart has fallen from is spot and is now thrashing about crashing into everything inside her. Regina is no stranger to the feeling but it still surprises her that she can take even steps towards her husband, untying her nightdress as she approaches.

She knows the steps she must take as if she was an actor reaching her mark. At the foot of the bed she drops her gown and she can hear the King's stomach growl and he begins to crawl closer to her.

There was a party in the great hall on this night. Regina made her obligatory appearance, but could never stand to be in the both the presence of her husband and her step daughter. She could only play the game of Queen for so long before she faltered.

She'd saved her energy for this encounter. Her brave face loomed over the King as climbs on top of him. His trousers were undone before he even entered her chambers. And there is a sense of relief inside of Regina only for a moment. Her husband was obviously eager. Regina tries not to outwardly cringe that she herself feels a pinch of excited that this might be over quickly.

She had learned that resistance only prolonged the experience, and so toyed with her husband. Her nudity seemed to be one of the simplest ways to drive the man forward. He seemed to relish in her bravery and Regina gave up her skin in order to save what was left of her inside. His hands are her makes it seem like a he is the one who could conjure magic. It burns and Regina's whimpers only drive the man forward as he explodes quickly, his old voice roaring throughout the chamber.

He pulls his wife closer to him, biting at her shoulders while laughing at his own pleasure. However, when her dark hair falls upon him he tosses her aside harshly. Her body jerks and she recoils on the opposite end of the bed. She doesn't have to play for his arousal anymore, so she curls around herself, bare and cold, and her cries come out as sobs instead of moans.

He lies there all night and leaves only when day breaks. And in the morning lying in bed Regina cannot eve summon a single spark of fire in her hand. She hurts too much.

8

The Queen just turned nineteen and the Princess will soon be fourteen. They have inhabited the same castle for four years yet have not spent a morsel of that time together. The Princess is kept with a busy schedule. She is tutored in academics for eight hours of every day excluding Sundays which are her holy day spent in her father's lap. Above that she is a given riding lessons, sewing lessons, singing lessons, etiquette lessons, cuisine lessons, dance lessons, track and field lessons, art lessons and on Sundays with her father, hunting lessons.

She had little time for her own interests, and while she is taught of all different matters of the world and kept in the company the most admired of instructors she feels like she knows nothing and no one. She feels a terrible void that mathematics and history cannot fill. The times when she is alone are the times she feels less lonely because her mind is free to wander. Without having her thoughts clouded by hitting all the right notes and taking the right steps, she is free to day dream.

The castle grounds are beautiful and the Princess Snow sits on the soft cool grass looking past the spring flowers and towards the Enchanted Forrest. She's ridden through it on several occasions and has always looked longingly at the woods. She imagines what it would be like to run through the trees, to be wild and improper. She wonders if it would be lonely to be in the woods. She wonders if it would be less lonely than being a Princess.

Since the loss of her mother, now four years ago, Snow has been plagued by these thoughts, only being relieved by them on very few occasions. She's a well tutored girl and was therefore intelligent enough to understand these moments, and in return yearn for them.

Snow's favourite spot in the garden had a wonderful view of the woods, but also a conspicuous view of the Queen's chamber. The Queen spends a lot of time on her balcony, and when the Princess is free she dashes to her spot in the grass for the likely chance to catch a glimpse of Regina.

She is beauty, and grace. She is intelligence, and nobility. She is everything Snow is trained to be and everything the King wishes his daughter could be. Snow admits to herself Regina is everything Snow wants, not just to be but to have. Again Snow wonders. She wonders if she will ever feel less lonely. She wonders if she will ever get what she really wants, Regina's company.

Standing pressed against the stone pillars that form her balcony, the Queen looks stunning in black. Her stony face shows turmoil inside her and Snow learns to read her. She can match up her sullen demeanor with the sobs she hears at night, and with her father's heavy footsteps walking passed her bedroom. The Queen's darkness has everything to do with it and Snow wishes she was stronger or older to save the Queen like the Queen had saved her.

8

This time Regina screams, her anger is next to nothing now and is nothing but desperation. There is blood between her thighs, and flowing onto her silk sheets. The king has been visiting her more often as she has grown more into a woman and as she becomes more and more fruitful. He left her bed in the early morning as he is accustomed to, obviously giving his wife not a second glance or he would have noticed scene she finds herself in now.

Bloodied and alone, her second child lost. She screams but no one comes. The flock of household staff are all busied pattering around the Princess. Regina knows this as fact. Still naked and weak she stumbles towards her chamber doors and gives the locks a hard turn. She falls on the floor letting her screams come as they please.

Soon, the servants hear it as it begins to ring throughout the castle. The screams are powerful enough that there is magic behind them. They emit through the stone walls and echo unendingly. They reach the Princess during a riding lesson far off the on the castle grounds. She rides hard and is at the locked door within minutes.

There are men there already trying to knock down the doors. The King is standing in last night's clothing with his hands pressed firmly on his ears as he calls out orders. He takes one look at Snow and softens, taking the protection away from his ears in order to escort her away from the painful wails. Snow is lulled the comfort of her father and is easily placated by his love. He takes her down and back outside where a carriage awaits to take her away from the noise.

But as soon as the Princess is not in her father's company the sound reaches her deeper than anything ever has. It isn't constant and it fails at times. And when it does horses calm and ride easier away from the cries. When they return they come stronger. Snow can feel herself crying because she is not a hero, she will never be. She cannot save Regina and she cannot save herself. For a moment their pains match.

Snow is not returned to the castle for hours. They ride around and the child is lead to the markets in hopes that the bright colours will sooth her. But her sadness doesn't leave her, even as she shows subjects a soft smile. She has been taught to always look joyful in the face of the people who have less. She is told by her instructors that her pain is nothing compared to the towns people and that she most put a brave face to them so that she may rule with the same empathy her mother once did.

It was something Snow strived to always be, like her mother. So she walked on, joking with the merchants, and running with the children. She won the hearts of all the townsfolk while hers shattered. And even as she could no longer hear the cries she could feel them. Snow was not brave even if her face was.

8

Upon returning to the castle, Snow is taken through the servant's entrance to avoid the grand hallways that lead to both the Queen's and King's chambers. Her curiosity is fueled by worry but she keeps her eyes down as she is taken to her room. She dreams of the screams that night. And in the nightmares Regina is hollow and limp. She leans forward on the balcony and falls fast forward down onto the grass that Snow rests on. The screams come from Snow as she rushes to the bloody mass that collided onto the ground. And when the young teenager reaches it, she doesn't find her raven haired step-mother lying dead but her own fair haired mother immobilized.

Shocked the cries come out again. She's heard these notes hit before. The screams play on like they did when she first found that her mother was gone. She knows it so well and feels the pain of it again. When a Shadow begins to tower over her Snow is unafraid. The Shadow is just part of the darkness that has been with her since the loss. The fear doesn't start building until the Shadow reaches out for her and pulls Snow away from the body she has been longing to be reunited with. It is fingers at her throat that attack her and tug her to her feet. Snow is crushed closely to the Shadow and it breathes in the air Snow so desperately tries to take in.

Snow cannot scream any longer but the sound still rings in the air. She is sure to die without a breath but is finally given relief through a kiss. The Shadow breathes life into her as if it wasn't what was killing her. And when it finally lets go the Shadow walks off and Snow doesn't keep her eyes of the form of a retreating woman dressed in black.

8


	2. Chapter 2

The next morning is a Sunday. Snow wakes in the darkness. The heavy drapes cover all her windows and it feels unusual to her to see the room covered in shadows. Even in her forlorn state Snow knows she would never draw the curtains. The girl cannot decipher if she had slept through the night or for only a moment, as her eyes adjust to the lack of light.

She leaves her room still in the nightgown she cannot remember changing into. Once in the hallway the sun illuminates the walls and the girl notes how high the sun sits in the sky. The halls are quiet, more so that she is used to.

In the dinning room, Snow expects to find her father sitting at the head of the table waiting patiently for her so that they could start their special day together. But the Princess is met with only cold silence.

"Father," she calls to the empty room. The trepidation starts, and the girl jumps into a full sprint around the house searching desperately for any sign of company. She feels terribly alone in the quiet. The only sounds that fill the castle are the heavy quick footsteps of a desperate girl.

"Father!" She calls out as she turns every corner, and enters every room. Down the steps is the nearest way out to the Gardens and though Snow usually avoids this exit, she is too afraid to recognize why. But as soon as she breaks through the doors, her call dies in her throat.

The Queen is sitting at the foot of an apple tree, gazing up at the plump red fruit that decorate the greens around it. Snow White stops her rushed steps abruptly. Suddenly remembering why she woke up feeling so distressed in the first place.

Regina.

Snow watches the Queen take a deep breath in, let her shoulders drop, her head hang low, and her eyes shut tightly. Regina sits still in this position, excluding the rise and fall of her chest and her fingers that idly caress a blood-red apple. Her skin is so pale it calls out for Snow to approach it, yet she stays firm in her spot. She is too afraid to approach the Queen and learn the truth of her current state. Snow knows she isn't the hero she needs to be to rescue her stepmother.

Yet, Snow doesn't need too many details of the truth to know the severity of it. It's been months since she was this close to the Queen, and the first time she has ever looked this defeated. Regina doesn't look as young as Snow remembers. When Snow closes her eyes and pictures the Queen she sees deep and kind brown eyes, and soft and slightly tinted skin with blushed cheeks. She sees the girl who held her close as she pulled her off a run away horse. The woman Snow sees before her now is broken. The sight cripples the Princess. She swiftly turns around and goes back into the castle alone.

Regina had felt Snow's presence. She'd dropped her head and counted up to six before she heard the girl retreat. And finally, she felt something different pain, a flicker of true anger. It's such a relief that the Queen relished in it and let herself be filled by it fully. She's finally angry and the magic that courses through her feels so good. Regina smiles to herself as the apple in her hands starts melting and dripping as blood through her fingertips.

8

Snow spends her Sunday alone. She sits in her spot in the grass next to a hard cover book she never opens. Even though her eyes do not fail to look towards her stepmother's chambers, she doesn't get another glimpse of Regina until the sun is going down. The woman she sees looking out towards the Enchanted Forrest is not the same one she saw that morning. She stands tall and confident. Although it is a relief to see the older woman with her signature posture, Snow is disappointed.

Whatever had happened throughout the day to spark this change in her was not Snow's doing. It hurt the girl to know she was such a coward. It explains her father's absence on the day reserved for just them. It was likely that the King had forgone his daughter's Sunday to save his second wife. Just when Snow allowed herself to think her father might be the villain, he turns out to be the hero Snow fails to be.

As Snow has gotten older, it has become unclear to her how she feels about her father. She adores King Leopold, and that has not faltered since she was a kid. The few months after her mother's passing and before the King remarried, the pair had grown together in their grief. But when Regina was introduced to the family the King's attention wavered. Their daily routine shattered and Snow found herself making friends with loneliness.

Snow had not let it affect her too negatively. Her mother had always said to seek out happiness where it hides. So the girl found joys in little things, like staying up late just to hear her father's foot steps retreated to his chambers, or taking her lunch in her father's study sitting quietly as to not disturb him. She was still close to her father even if she was just on the outside looking in.

The first time Snow heard the screams was only a few weeks after Regina moved into the Castle and for a long time the young child assumed that the poor Queen suffered from night tremors. But as she grew, she found that her father's footsteps didn't lead to his bedroom but stopped short at her stepmother's.

In all her story books that was normal, but the yells that followed were not. Even though she was a younger girl, Snow let her eyes open and they stayed open counting the times her father went back and forth and counted how many times she heard screams and how many time they were moans.

This wasn't how happy endings go, Snow mused. But none of her stories ever spoke of the second marriage. None of the characters lost their true love and had to marry again. None of them had their true love run away. When the stories ended all of Snow's questions started. She found herself as an unwritten character in an unwritten story.

As hard as she tried to be the hero, she couldn't write in her bravery. And quickly her father was failing at the job too. It seemed that her Prince was the woman who could be so wrecked hours ago, capable of crying out in so much pain, and yet able to look so regal and strong. Snow wishes she could float and be lifted high above the gardens and dropped at Regina's feet. She decides that if she cannot be the Prince than it is Regina's role to play. The only other hero Snow had known was dead.

8

Regina stirs in the night, ready to retire into her chamber, knowing that her episode the morning before will give her easily a few weeks of relief. She's stood at the edge of her balcony for longer than she usually does. Even though she feels weary, she lingers as she takes in the feeling of power that fills her.

Her magic is a sixth sense and it makes her more aware of the things around her. There are three people in the gardens. Regina picks out the grounds keepers out easily, and senses their location without even seeing them. It brings a smirk to her lips. One is sleeping on the job and the other is wrestling with a few tools that won't seem to fit in the shed.

The third presence she knows without even having to focus on it. Snow is out there, sitting down with a book near by even though she reads it not. The proximity is making Regina's eyes sharper as she hones in the emotion that has given her such power.

Anger.

One thought is all it takes. The girl's selfishness and her ability to look straight through Regina, it fuels the Queen's anger. The whole Castle is so adept at it. She is not the true Queen and is therefore of little importance to the King, the household staff, the land's subjects and even Snow White.

When her doors were broken down the Queen was knocked with the butt of a sword. The blow came to the back of her head and clouded her in darkness. She awoke in the middle of the night lying in her bed, still naked and although she was wrapped up in clean linen with the blood between her thighs barely wiped off.

The sounds of tormented sobs roused the Queen and she dressed quickly to address them. Once in the hallways she saw a frenzy of people catering to the crying Princess. All for a nightmare. That scene made the Queen more powerful than she had ever been. Snow receiving careful touches from her husband, it was enough to drive the Queen into magic.

The eyes that cried then are on Regina now. Her magic feels it. It flows through her body and jumps out of her as if wanting to chase after the girl. It points at her direction, and calls for her to get closer to the young woman.

Regina answers the calls and turns her face to Snow's direction. And even though the girl is well tucked behind a hedge, Regina is able to find those eyes and meet with them. They open wide, started but do not look away. Regina's lip curls and Snow's smile turns up sweetly and eagerly.

The Queen can feel the magic in her react as it ignites inside her fervently. The Princess Snow White was Regina's source of magic. And if she felt this powerful with just anger, the Queen wondered how much stronger it could get with hatred.


	3. Chapter 3

Snow White slept soundly the nights that followed. There had been a shift in the castle. She could not even begin to imagine what had brought on this change. It was refreshing, like the state of wilderness after a thundering storm. Each bolt of lightning that had beat her the day her Stepmother cried out seemed to have burned out the things that struck Snow down in despair.

Snow found it silly that all it took was a look. One little acknowledgement, and the loneliness that haunted the Princess found itself dwindling. The looks continued throughout the days. After years of feeling invisible to Regina, Snow suddenly had her attention. In those moments, she felt her face flush and her heart palpitate. It made her feel shy and foolish and it exhilarated her too. She was being saved.

The Princess obsessed with these little interactions. Even amongst her instructors or with the servants, Snow always sought out Regina. It was not a new habit she had acquired, Snow had done so even when she was younger. The girl had been made promises. Her father had sat her down and explained that Regina was so be her new mother.

King Leopold had been very worried about Snow's reaction to his announced engagement. But the girl quickly reassured him. Snow knew her heart. Her mother was always the voice inside her head telling her to _be sweeter, be kinder, and be better_. Snow could not replace her conscious and therefore Snow could not replace her mother. What Snow had wanted was someone to replace the hole in her heart that was left in her passing. So there was no tantrum when Snow's kingdom gained a new Queen.

Snow had not gotten what she wished for. But still she had that voice in her head. _Have optimism, have perseverance, and have hope. _With her mother's words repeating, Snow would always search for Regina when she entered a room, or was in a group a people. Even after years of coming up empty handed, of never knowing where Regina was or what she got up to, Snow kept searching.

Now, when Snow looks Regina is there, far off, always lingering, but there. It makes Snow feel stronger but also act sheepish. She tries to hold the stare but still cannot. Something about the straight face that watches her gives the Princess goose bumps on the back of her neck and make her hands sweat.

At night, Snow's last thoughts before she drifts into rest of are the eyes that have been watching her. They are full of emotion but one that Snow knows nothing about. The Queen's eyes turn gradually from brown to black when they meet Snow's. It's when they get their darkest that the Princess can no longer hold the contact. Snow disappoints herself every time she cannot look into the eyes when they become as dark as shadow.

It frightens and exhilarates the young girl. It drives her insane to feel the elation and have it taken as soon as her eyes drops. It drives her mad to be always in waiting for the next moment that they share such a simple interaction. During those breaks in time Snow tries to grown stronger to by chance keep her eyes on Regina a fair bit longer, to look past all the dark shadows behind her eyes and maybe finally meet Regina. If she was not such a coward maybe they would go beyond eye contact and actually touch. It is difficult for Snow to focus on her studies when her mind has been transfixed on the Queen. It goes noticed by all her instructors.

The Princess' folklore and history teacher is a young scholarly man, never in his years educating the girl has he seen her so unresponsive to her lessons. The girl always came to his classes in a hurry, like if she was running away from everything else and into her escape. Count Oliver, Snow's favourite instructor, and she openly told him at the start and end of each of his classes.

They only met once a week, the subject not being as pressing to a girl in Court. The classes it self was one Snow had moved to be taught as it had never been part of her curriculum. Her lesson was one of the only things Snow used to look forward to; it was the pause button to her sadness.

To Oliver, Snow was an all around happy Princess. She never struck him as lonely or melancholy. She was eager and when she showed her enthusiasm by reading a loud in a sing-song voice, and could never sit still as she read scriptures and text. Oliver adored her as much as she adored her classes. He is only a few years her senior and all the years of constant study had paid off by buying him this position.

He sits close to her as Snow stares blankly at the page before her. Oliver looks at her brow as it wrinkles in thought. He has seen that face many times before as she processes a new idea and embraces the new information. Until recently, he enjoyed seeing that look on her face. She had always engaged him in her thoughts, had let her mouth run wild, rambling about the different possibilities and the different ways to interpret facts and tales. However, she is now stoic, lost in her own thoughts. Oliver did not see the exuberant girl he had come to know.

"Are you troubled, dear Snow?" He asks, finally voicing his thoughts as he leans closer to the girl. The sound breaks the silence causing the Princess to jump.

"No," Snow whispers as she discerns the proximity they share. Alone in the library, both the Princess and her Instructor do not move to correct their distance from one another. Snow keeps her eyes on the page before her, feeling any contact would violate the precious connection she has been hoping to nurture with her stepmother. While Oliver holds his position hoping to affect a reaction from the shell of a Princess he once know.

"Truly?" He probes. Oliver reaches out, his fingers pushing up at Snow's chin. She moves with him, lifting her head but not her eyes. Snow feels a tension she does not recognize grow inside her. She cannot remember any one other than her father touching her in ages. Oliver's skin on hers, Snow wondered how many years had passed since she'd felt the skin of another person.

"No." She responds firmly. Neither knows if she was saying so to his question or his touch. But before Oliver can do anything more, the large oak doors swing open. The steps that enter play a song that Snow White knows all the notes too. Her eyes leave the words that had refused to turn into passages to her during her studies and follow the clipping of her stepmother's heels. And when her eyes meet Regina's, her stepmother's are already covered in shadows. And as much as Snow had willed herself earlier, she fails. The darkness is too much to bear. She looks away.

"Your Highness," Oliver says as he stumbles to his feet and down into a bow. Regina does not stop her steps and walks past the pair. She settles at a bookshelf and plucks out a book and without a word, takes a seat sitting by the windowsill.

Snow watches carefully, catching the Queen's eyes quickly, as Regina lifts them from the page she just turned too. The tension the Princess had felt only seconds earlier multiplies traveling to all ends of her body. She feels as if a light has been light and it's rays where bouncing endlessly into everything inside of her, crashing into the underside of her skin and jumping between her nerves. Each time the light collides with something within her, it gives her a shock. It brews something hot and chaotic within her and Snow struggles to repress the blush she feels creeping up her cheeks.

"Shall we continue?" Oliver asks pulling his chair to the opposite side of the table. The Queen's eyes are burning both the student and the teacher. Oliver's tension is a different battle one is knows he cannot win. Yet looking over at the flushed girl he cannot help but to start feeling victorious. The last of their hour shared together is filled with Oliver's voice reading to his distracted pupil. There is a smile in each other he reads. He had only hoped that Snow's recent distant attitude had to do with confusing feelings towards her instructor. This was now easily the greatest day of his life.

8

The Queen is seething as she paces in her bedchamber. Yet, what feels like indestructible anger fades as quickly as water poured onto a candle, without even a spark. The King crosses her doorway. Wearing heavy boots he doesn't bother to take off, he sits down at the edge of the bed looking at her hungrily.

The room is dark, but the moonlight finds Regina, leaving her vulnerable in the light. Although Regina cannot see her husband well enough, she can make out that expectant look on his face. She can feel her magic boil inside her, like acid in her stomach. She is different this time. In only a few weeks time she has conjured more magic than she ever did in years of studying and training. She knew this would soon come and she had prepared.

The magic is in her fingers, she reminds herself. She pictures it in her mind, a slow and painful passing, and simple to create with magic. She imagines the King's clothes becoming too tight around his bloated waist and his thick neck. Until he can no longer breathe and until he can never touch her again.

But the magic in her fingers is black, and the man's clothes stay tailored while hers are loosened at each stitch on her corset and fall engorged to the floor. She stands naked before the man she failed to kill. She cannot not move, her fear is overriding the anger she has worked hard to cultivate.

King Leopold becomes quickly impatient by the still beauty that stands motionless in the moonlight. He takes to his feet, and with heavy thuds approaches his bride. He kicks away the clothes that pool at their feet and pulls roughly on the woman. He brings her closer with his mouth that tears at the side of her neck alternating between bites and kisses.

The King is hungry, and tired. Regina stands rigidly even as his weight pulls on her. Although she has not forgotten how her seeming disinterest can affect the night she cannot bring herself to reciprocate is advance. He pushes her to the wall. His body against hers feels like if a fever fighting to get inside of her, and quickly it is, and it sets fire to her.

The knock on the door feels like the being tossed into a tub of cold water and ice. Even though Regina is burning up, she wants desperately to escape. She rather the flames than whatever might be left inside of her to burn out. Leopold continues despite of the knock, even as it pounds again.

At the third insistent knock, the King is exhausted. He readjusts himself and retires. Regina hears him exchange a word with whoever was inquiring for the Queen at the late hour, and then finally the stomps of the boots move far away. The Queen rushes into her bed, pulling the covers over her body, glad to have not had to share them with her husband.

"Your Majesty?" A voice calls into the dark room. Regina is too broken to feel the anger that would ordinarily in vigor her. She sits up and looks towards the Princess, who looks so fair and pale in the moonlight. Snow White feels the eyes upon her even though she cannot connect with them in the darkness. She knows they are there, in the shadows.


	4. Chapter 4

There were rarely any words exchanged between the two. Try as she might, Snow could not conjure up in her memory the last conversation she had with her Queen. She'd spent the night trying to remember the last words Regina had spoken directly to her. None came to mind. Yet somehow she found herself in bed with her step-mother. They were quite a distance apart. Snow had taken brave steps towards the darkness, she had not fumbled once as she lifted the covers and found a spot at the edge of the bed.

Regina had said nothing. For a moment they lay both on their sides, staring deeply into each others eyes, yet seeing nothing through the night ridden bed chambers. The darkness only grew as the night progressed and soon Regina had let out a slight sigh and turned her back to the Princess.

Snow was not over come by sleep for several hours. Her mind fought her body, and she spent the hours telling herself not to act on her impulses and shimmy closer to the Queen. She could feel the heat coming from her bed-mate's body. It caused a strange sensation that seemed to be calling out to her, a pull Snow lived with everyday but on this night intensified to the point of pain. It felt like her skin was frozen in it's place but her bones were making a move towards the naked woman two feet away from her tearing at her from the insides.

Her body soon exhausted her, and she feel into a deep sleep. She awoke as the sun struggled to lift up passed the tall trees of the Enchanted Forest. The first thing she saw was the fair skin of the Queen, the blanket had been ruffled between their bodies and it had left Regina exposed down to the navel. Her breasts rose and fell in a slight restful movement. Snow kept her eyes slightly closed so she could watch the purpling bruises expand with each exhale and collapse at the inhale. She continued to watch the breaths pick up their pace slowly as Regina began to stir.

Something was changing within Snow. She was well aware it was. In her mind it was more of like something inside her was being realized. It felt like an awakening. The Princess, who had everything but the one thing she wanted most, was now on the path of obtaining it. Her void was closing in on itself. Her heart hurt from it's relief, it stung as if it didn't know what to do. It had not swollen bigger in years and now suffered with growing pains. Yet Snow relished in that pain. It was as if she had been left out in the cold for almost half a decade and now had suddenly had a bucket of hot water tossed on her. It stung. Her entire body stung. Her pale skin was red as her blood started flowing through her faster and faster. Her heart hurt but it was getting stronger. It was sweet relief.

That same heart stopped dead, when Regina's eyes opened in a quick flash. It wasn't as if she had awoken from a nightmare, but if she had awoken with an urgent thought, as if the kettle she'd left on the fire had sung its song. Snow kept still, she tried to close her eyes and play sleep but her body was tired of listening to her.

The Queen's head rolled to the side and her eyes met Snow's. There was no colour in Regina's eyes. Even the white had been consumed by the black. Snow held the gaze. She could feel the blackness flowing from her stepmother and she welcomed it into herself. Whatever pain she was feeling a moment before grew exponentially and it felt so sweet and so bitter and it took control of her.

8

Regina flinched as Snow reached up towards her. Warm fingers pressed against her cheeks. They ignited her skin. She felt her body wake up fully as thin fingers gently caressed her face. It was such a beautiful feeling. The best Regina had ever felt. She had never been more powerful.

_Die_. She thought. Once and twice and over and over the word rung through her head. Then the little girl in front of her was grinning, stupidly, and Regina noticed it was a response to her own smile. _Suffer. _She now chanted inside. _Suffer. _And the pale girl smiled wider.

Regina finally understood herself. The fact that it had taken her so long was laughable, and the more she thought about it the more Snow squirmed next to her. There was excitement building in her current bed-mate and both girls were feeding off it. Regina had always been plagued by her own inadequacies. Rumple had always been so short with her when they arouse. Although he always spoke in riddles he expected Regina to have found the root of her magic by now.

No wonder he had grown so frustrated. It had been in front of her for years, it had been what had driven her to magic in the first place. Somehow the King had taken her off of that path. He had broken her night after night, year after year and child after child. He had taken a lot from her, but she would never forgive him for taking her magic and using it against her. He took her power and she had blamed him for it, so much that she had forgotten why exactly she had been put in this place to begin with.

Snow White. She had set all these courses into action. Her mother and Kind Leopold where to blame, but the lowest common denominator in all of her troubles, pains, and embarrassments, the cause of her dead heart, was Snow White. The child who looked up at her adoringly, so close to Regina, was going to realigned her mind, back to the core of it all, back to where she had begun. She would take Snow's heart into her hands and crush it. Even though she felt strong enough to pull in out right where they lay, something bigger than that was developing. She would take Snow's heart but in a way that would crush her darling father's first.

She would take Snow White's heart, in more ways than one. And she would crush it, over and over again until it was as useless as her own. So that it was so spoiled that it could beat for only one person and then the eyes that were on her now would watch their own heart get crushed by that one person.

The word _love_ was playing on repeat in Regina's mind as she crashed her lips onto the Princess of the Enchanted Forrest.

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	5. Chapter 5

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It had started rough and clumsily. Snow had been too stunned to move at first. The joints in her fingers had dried up and curled up around Regina's face. She held on tightly and let cold lips consume her. It was her first kiss and was not at all what she had imagined it to be. Her body froze, and was taken over by goose bumps. It seemed like hours passed and all Snow did was lay there feeling Regina play upon her. It wasn't until Regina pushed herself closer that she was finally able to react.

It came as a moan. Regina's bare body was pressed against Snow's nightgown, a cold tongue circled at the top of her lip and Snow pushed her chin up. Her lips started moving on their own accord as if this was dance they had once watched be performed and were now trying to mimic. Snow tried to remember the steps and then they came to her rather suddenly. She had shared this kiss once before, in a dream.

As Snow White grew confident, Regina became more assertive. The hands on her face had been pulled down and guided around her waist. In that position Snow was less rigid, and her body joined into the dance. It shook on it's on volition but swayed to Snow's command. Her legs had intertwined with Regina's and the rocking movement feed the pleasure that was building up inside her. An angry grunt from the older girl cut off their stream of kisses. It startled Snow but before she was able to withdraw Regina was pulling her even closer and using her knee to maneuver around Snow's nightgown. Assured that the angry curl in Regina's lip was frustration instead of regret Snow started her own ministrations. Her mouth reached up to the curled lip and ran her tongue against it.

Snow had never felt bolder or braver. She had never felt more in control of herself in her life. She wasn't acting like a Princess. She was not acting for anyone but herself. She was feeding something inside her that had been yearning for years, and the meal filled her completely. Regina had not returned her kiss and instead of stop for Regina's sake she let her lips trail away and find a home at the crook of the Queen's neck. Regina had seemed adamant on figuring out Snow's nightgown. But her attempts faltered as Snow nipped at her neck and her nose grazed Regina's earlobe.

A purr curled out of the Queen's throat. It fed Snow White's boldness enough for the Princess to oblige when Regina whispered. "Take that stupid thing off."

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Regina was normally quite the planner. She did not like to do things on a whim. As a child everything she wanted to do she had to plan out extensively. Her mother's third eye was locked on her and if she ever wanted to break a rule than she had to be patient. She had to make her moves slowly, she had to take her time to execute them perfectly.

Even so her success rate was laughable. Even when she did achieve her goal her mother was usually there at the finish line laughing at her foolishness. Regina had always been defeated. In one way or another, no matter how hard she planned.

That was why when she had wanted Daniel so badly, she had bide her time. She day dreamed it until it was so perfect it could become a reality. She'd lost her virginity to him the same day she'd let him take her first kiss. He had not known that it was what she had wanted. He thought it was just in the moment. That they had rushed into it. He had even felt ashamed. But it had happened just as she had seen it play out. As she lay in his hands, her warm body pressed against his strong arms she sighed in relief to feel his heart beat.

She had gambled his life in order to be near him. She had gambled his life on a plan. The first one she had ever bested her mother on. Regina reassured Daniel. He had not rushed her. She told him she loved him then, also a first. Yet, she never told him she had timed it perfectly. When she ran off, Daniel was left to fret that she had done so in shame but in truth she had cut it close. Another moment and her mother would have known.

Regina had spent weeks with only the phantom feeling of him inside her until she was able to feel him again. After that she assumed herself a pro. She had spent a long time fooling her mother. Regina often thought she had wasted so much time waiting to make sure her mother would never know. Yet if that woman had found out sooner, her first love would have died sooner.

Her plan to run away with him was brash and unplanned. It had fallen apart quickly. Just like Regina was now. Her mouth sucked on a small breast as her fingers dipped into wetness. She felt an eagerness inside herself she wanted to relish over and over again. It was unplanned but it was only last night that her new plan had started formulating anyways.

She reassured herself that this would be different. Her mother was no longer around to foil her. She had her magic. She had her strength and she had her vengeance. Most importantly, her heart was shattered. There was no love involved. There was nothing left that could make her sloppy. She felt grounded and it drove her to continue recklessly. The more pleasure they felt the more pain she would be able to inflict, she reasoned as she flicked her finger inside Snow White.

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The girl was struggling against Regina. She knew well enough how easy it was to hear the deeds that occurred in this room but the more she restrained herself from moaning the more she felt the pleasure build. The pain had faded quickly; it had been overcome just as she had been. The pleasure overran her thoughts and her defenses. She felt over heated and was thrown closer to the edge when Regina's cool skin rocked back into her.

She had never felt this pleasure before, but she could feel an explosion coming. It was building around Regina's mouth and pulsating around quickening fingers. When the explosion came Snow's loneliness vanished. She felt wet and soft, tired and exhausted, but exhilarated and alive. She felt scared as her thoughts started to kick in, but she also felt safe.

For a fleeting moment.

It hurt as the Queen carelessly slipped her finger out of Snow's core. The brash movement shocked the Princess. A wave of bafflement flew over her as Regina slide off the bed and retreated into her wardrobe without a single glance over her shoulder. She had left Snow alone. A wash of vulnerability overcame her next as she lay still waiting for Regina to return.

Her thoughts jumped around, and out of all the things that crossed her, she got stuck on one. The words Regina had spoken. The first she had shared with Snow in months. They had made Snow fold into herself but now they somehow seemed cheap. Snow felt cheap. She had forgotten the black eyes that had cast themselves on her. They had been erased by the first smile Snow had seem from Regina in years.

Snow had so foolishly overlooked the shadow that was cast over them as they moved with one another. The had mistaken it for a veil, a safety and a comfort. She had given herself over to it. The words Regina had spoken had felt like a love song under that light. Yet, when Snow White replayed it, they were harsh. They had not spoken desire or need, only fever and desperation.

The girl rose. The smell of the room taking over her. It smelled of her arousal and of the Queen's but also of her father's. It was a smell she had no recognized when she entered the room but now she knew it. She had been changed. The bile in her stomach started to bubble as if she'd reached a boiling point. she did not want to wait a moment longer to see if Regina would return.

So she ran.

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	6. Chapter 6

Rumpelstiltskin was noticeably impressed. Regina could feel his eagerness bubbling up within him. Her suspicions were confirmed when the reptile man giggled.

"Well this has been a long time coming," Rumple sang as he paced circles around the Queen. "I am not wrong to say it has little to do with that outburst of yours the village folk keep gossiping on and on about. But a spark is a spark and even a spark can light a fire."

His song was a direct reference to the dozen trees burning up in a purple flame. The Queen's lip was curled in satisfaction. The trees of the Enchanted Forrest had magic in them, she relished the fumes.

"Here take this," Rumple said as a book appeared in the Queen's hands. She thumbed it mindlessly still transfixed with the fire burning just on the other side of a hill top. Men were approaching it now. All geared up to thwart the flames knowing they could likely die for their efforts.

"Well take a better look," Rumple snapped his fingers and the pages of the book open to the index. Regina obliged and read aloud.

"Chapter one: First Love. The love of Parents." Her eyebrows wrinkled as her eyes jumped around the pages full of such a trivial word. Love.

"Friendship and love. True love. The Love of your life." She said in a mock voice. Rumple outwardly hissed and slammed the book closed.

"You are a fool girl. You think conjuring fire, ripping out hearts, appearing and vanishing or casting spells is all there is too magic. You think you have nothing else to learn. Yes, you know there is white magic and black magic and only a select few can manage it. Yet there is another magic that a rat can wield and a king can summon. And it's love and it rarely is defeated. You best learn about it. So when it trumps you, you might at least be able to pick up the pieces. "

Rumple's breath was on her neck. He stopped his wild circles just behind her and had craned his head on her shoulder. His greasy hair tickled at her skin. His eyes met with a faint bruise just below her ear. It was one they both knew her husband had not inflicted.

"I cannot love." The Queen spat.

"Awe. Maybe." Rumple declared as he jumped away from the Queen. "But everyone else can. That means even those boys on fire have something they can use against you."

Regina's graze travelled back to the dark flames. She had had all intentions of quelling the fire. Amidst the screams and the men tossing endless buckets of water, the fire only raged on stronger. The men suddenly had targets on their backs. Regina just shrugged as the flames took control. When she was the Sovereign Ruler of the Enchanted Forrest many of the trees would have to come down anyways.

"Learn about it," Rumple repeated, then he vanished, leaving the echo of his laughter and a book called _The way of Love. _

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There was suddenly a big buzz surrounding the Princess Snow. It had not been there the day prior. But something in the Castle had shifted. Of all the people around her she seemed to be the only one not informed as why.

The seamstresses were at her door only moments after she arrived back into her own chambers, they were accompanied by her new hand maiden, that had been put in charge of getting the Princess ready for her day each morning.

"Early start," Elizabeth had called out into the large bedroom. She walked in without hesitation. Stepping quickly to pour a craft of waster into Snow's basin. "It's a busy day my Princess. No time for an extra wink."

The hand maiden, did not introduce the seamstresses. She worked on drawing a bath while to other two lady's carted in supplies and fabric. Snow lay still in her bed, there was an emptiness eating at her insides, scraping the walls of her skin. She felt paper thin. She had not had a full moment to gather her thoughts or process her feelings.

She'd kept asking herself why the Queen had just walked away. With no answer she had left all her other thoughts at bay. Now they were screaming to be heard. The words of Elizabeth fell flat to her ears. She lay still dreading leaving the comfort of her bed even though the safe place wasn't offering her any condolences at all.

"Up now," Elizabeth called at the foot of her bed. Snow White remain rigid.

"Not today," the Princess mustered to say. The voice that left hers was not her own. It came out harsh and mean. Snow wondered if that was another part of her that had been changed forever. Elizabeth was caught off guard. She had been tending to the Princess for a whole season and had never heard be so cold.

"Oh my," Elizabeth breathed. "I will go fetch the doctor."

"No!" Snow said lifting herself off the mattress. Nothing scared her more, than someone finding out what she had only just done. "I'm fine. Please don't"

Elizabeth's worry only grew as she saw the girl rise. Her skin was flushed and her nightgown was askew. The girl's heavy breaths.

"Please I am fine, Elizabeth." Snow pleaded as she tried to calm her racing heart. The woman's concern heightened but the Princess' sweet voice lulled her. She approached the girls and placed the back of her hand on the girl's forehead. It was warm but not hot yet also cloaked in a light layer of sweat.

"You aren't sick. But something troubles you." She said as she drew the sheets further away from the girl. Snow white stirred. She felt so exposed, even though it was nothing compared to the way Regina had pushed passed her.

"Let's take this smock off and get you cleaned up," Snow reeled. She felt like she did not know her body anymore. She did not know if she there was anything about it that would give her up for what she had done.

"I don't want a bath," She said so out of fear, but also out of fear that she would loss the little good she felt.

"Show a brave a face," Elizabeth cooed. "There is much to do in the upcoming days. And if you aren't well you won't be ready in time. I won't hesitant to call your doctor if this worsens."

There was true concern in the voice of Snow's young maiden. The Princess had not known her hand maiden for very long, but her staff always had a knack for calming her.

"Can I bathe myself?" Snow question as she threw her legs onto the edge of the bed and adjusted her night gown. Elizabeth stepped back and let the girl move on her own accord. She moved to be of aide to the seamstresses and let the troubled girl step into her basin alone.

Snow sunk into the warm water. As she lay still she could still feel Regina's hands lingering on her. It made her feel ashamed to be washing off the sensations. They had been so warm and heated. They can changed her they had made her feel full. It was a stark contrast to the emptiness she felt now.

She decided not to scrub at her skin and not to ignore the tenderness in her breasts and the sore feeling between her legs. She reasoned to herself that if she was under such turmoil that Regina could easily be in the same state. There had been something between them that morning. It was dark and it was magical.

Snow White had to hope that it was something special. It was hard, but it was the way their relationship had always felt, at least for Snow White. She was driven by a hunger, a need to be close to Regina. It was still inside her. If she doubted Regina, then she would only push her further.

There was a steady stream of women running back and forth within her chambers. The buzz of the Castle was starting to build. Snow White did not care why. Her thoughts settled where they most often did.

There a bath that was now cold, Snow White decided she wanted more.

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	7. Chapter 7

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At the War Room the Queen sat at the right arm of the King. Only her chair was pushed back slightly. She had toyed with it's placement several times when she was first married into the court. She thought her voice would matter. She assumed that as Queen her voice would be heard. At her first meetings she was too shy to interrupt. The subject matter was far beyond her grasp.

However, the Queen had always been a quick learner. She gasped the terminology easily and even kept a note book full of jargon that she would later go back and study. Learning the Rule of the Land was what had occupied well over the first year of Regina's life as King Leopold's wife.

The first time Regina interjected during a session, the room stared at her blankly for a moment. Until the King had turned from his throne and faced her. He had patted her on the head and started back off on a completely different train of thought. It had taken her weeks to raise her voice again. She chose her matter much more wisely this time and built a point the Queen thought would not be neither ignored nor refuted. Yet even after she finally had the opportunity to make her point the room had pretend not to have heard.

From far off in the corner of the room it was almost believable that no one had heard her. She had had courage behind her words, but as always Regina had been easily disregarded. All her attempts fell to deaf ears. Even when Regina had often snuck into the War Room and pulled her heavy chair forward it was readjusted my one of the guards by the time the meeting commenced.

No one wanted to hear what she had to say. She grew accustomed to the meetings. It was always required that she attend. She soon after learned her place and that the time would pass by faster if she did not object or inquire into any of the proceedings further. She just kept herself in the background pretending to barely listen. When they called upon her she mostly just faked surprise, as if she was daydreaming.

Yet the Queen never ceased to listen intently. She knew everything about the realm. She knew the state of it's subjects and the finances of the Crown. Her husband was not so adept. He often needed the reminders of his council for things that were discussed even only a few days prior. Regina always inwardly rolled her eyes when the King could not keep up. The man was an idiot but most of all just as much of a figurehead as she was. She signed documents on command whenever she was asked. Her husband, the King, always did the same.

He did however have a few things he was passionate about. They were matters that could not be touched. Where his opinion could not be swayed or bought. The most important of these matters was the one he held closest to his heart. His daughter.

The Enchanted Woods was not in a ripe state. Some of it's borders were threated and the bonds the King had made in his youth had dwindled in time. He had spent too much of his energy pandering to his subjects. The neighbouring lands were reeling from the neglect. Trade deals were old and barely relevant. The pockets of the Realm were almost empty as people moved further into the woods to avoid taxes. To Regina the state of the Enchanted Forrest was a joke. The people loved their King because he was a pushover. Whatever they asked for he feed them with gluttony.

This was starting to weigh on the Realm. There was turmoil at the borders and it was running deeper and deeper into the woods. The people cried for protection but refused to pay for a military. The only solution the council could offer was a need for an ally.

With the state being in such disrepair, this ally could not be bought. Their only means of securing an allegiance was through marriage. Regina wanted to burst out laughing when she heard it suggested. The King had said time and time again that his Princess was to marry for love.

"That is not up for discussion," The King had said as a fist pounded down on the table. "Snow will marry for love. It was her mother's wish." Leopold softened as he continued to speak, but Regina could still see the muscles in his shoulders tense up.

"But my lord, the assaults from the North are a disrespect. There are claims that your Reign will come to an end after your passing. Without a male heir to the throne the Realm is in great danger. The Enchanter Forrest will belong to the first person that takes it," a counsel man offered. He continued before that King could object. "The ball for the Princess' Birthday is in five day's time. I have taken the liberty to invite a set of fine candidates for both Snow White and the Enchanted Forrest."

"This is meant to be a celebration of my fair child, not an auction!" The King's yell echoed the vast War Room. Regina listened quietly. The conversation had moved on, but she was stuck on a single note hit. There had been talk of a need for a rightful Heir to the throne years ago. The results of those conversations had not been in Regina's favour.

She was torn. It was not in her best interest for Snow White to fun off and fall in love in at a Ball either. The Queen herself had seen the way men fell to their knees to bow before the Princess. It was a reaction she had never see another person ignite in people. If the King agreed to it Snow White could be married off before the end of the season.

The King was not easily calmed. He was capable of shouting louder than the dozen men at his table combined. The meeting was dragging on, all the while the Queen sat quietly there was a fever burning within her. She feared that the anger screaming across the room would make its way into her bed at night. So she reached forward and placed her hand on the back of the Kings neck.

He always said he hated her cold hands. Anytime Regina laid her hands on her husband, he would reel back. At times, Regina would have used them to distance herself from the man and at times she used it to get his attention. The King's head snapped back to quickly, a popping sound reverberated into the air.

"What?" Leopold questioned as he dripped his neck back pressing his skull down onto Regina's fingers as if trying to pop them loose. Regina held her position. She looked deep into her husband's eyes. They'd gathered a film in them over the years, the darkest part of his eyes now looked cloudy as if the King's eye themselves had aged. Somehow they look far less unsettling to Regina. He was just an old man, powerless even in his own court. Regina suddenly fear him less. She refused to be the only thing he had true control over.

With that, Regina felt her fingers grow warmth, as if they themselves were conjuring magic. There was a fire building behind her finger tips. The King showed discomfort but Regina could feel his will working against him. He sat still, looking into her eyes, unable to keep feeding his outburst. Regina saw his eyes change. As if he was recognizing the power within her more are his skin started to burn.

"Enough," The Queen spoke, aloud, for the entire War Room to hear. "What's done is done. We will have the party."

With that the Queen's finger's went back to their normal state of cold, and the Men in the room started to collect their documents and leave the room with a slight bow. For a moment, the King and the Queen were left alone. Regina's magic was raging inside her, and for a moment she saw herself pulling out the King's heart and crushing it slowly with his favourite fingers. But then she saw the fear in his old eyes and she reminded herself that there were worse fates than death.

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	8. Chapter 8

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The chatter that had built up around Snow White was comforting. The voices seemed to wrap a warmth around the Princess' skin. It lulled her and she moved lazily amongst the chaos of the Castle. There were four women at her heels all lead by Johanna. Johanna, the oldest of the group, was the closest thing Snow White had to a mother. The old woman was well versed in all matters Snow White. It was not only her job but also what she had dedicated her life to.

Johanna could always sense when something was out of place. Snow White was a creature of habit that followed a pattern as strictly as one would have to follow a recipe in a potion. There were little surprises when it came to the Princess, even as she was becoming a woman Johanna has always been the necessary steps in front of the girl to offer a guiding light.

Johanna had known for a long time that the girl was heartbroken. It had not only been the loss of her mother that broke her. She was a child and she was resilient. The loss of her mother taught her that life was not fair and that love cannot die. The real heartbreak happened when the King remarried and the Queen Regina made a home within the Castle.

The Queen had cast a spell on the girl, so much so that Johanna started to call Regina the Evil Queen. It was Snow's change in demeanour that earned the Queen the nickname amongst the Princess's ladies in waiting. At first it was an obvious change in Snow White. Her eyes lite up when Regina was around. The little girl had followed the Queen from room to room whenever she ever had a free moment to herself. Any time Snow White was not focusing on her studies she honed in on the Queen.

Johanna had watched the obsession develop as Snow White grew up and she watched her go from an exuberant little girl to an introverted young lady. It was a shame to see Snow White light up, because the reason her back went from slumped to straight, and her eyes from low and tired to bright was always a mere glimpse of the Queen.

The light was always short lived. Regina was brought to the castle to fill a void in Snow White's life and all Johanna had seen was a darkness brewing. That was something Regina had never been able to deliver. The light in Snow White's eyes always dimmed as quickly as it was ignited. Johanna gave the older girl the benefit of the doubt for years. She too was a child the caretaker had reasoned.

But time had revelled the Queen to be much darker than any child was capable of. A shrewd shadow followed the girl down every hallway. The staff felt it, and they spoke of the change in demeanour in even themselves when the Queen entered the room. The Queen Regina made the sun shine dim wherever her feet took her. Her presence made the air harder to swallow and the candle light flicker. The inhabitants of the Castle felt they could sense the Queen approaching, as if she cast a larger shadow than the trees in the Enchanted Forrest did. It was that overcast that had made the name the Evil Queen stick, and why it concerned Johanna so to see Snow White more mesmerised by it than ever before.

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Regina started with the first chapter. She was determined to manipulate Snow White and her father to her advantage. Rumple had presented it to her for a reason. He now believed her strong enough to move forward with her revenge. After years of grief Regina welcomed the endeavour. The timing seemed so ideal. It told Regina that Rumple had much more of a vested interest in her success, it told her that he had seen the future and had seen her triumph.

The book itself tested Regina. By the time she had read it her bed chamber was entirely upturned. The book had been tossed into the fire. It of course had not burned. Only her hand had when she dove in to pick it back up.

The Queen had of course started at the beginning. _Chapter One: First Love _It had been laughable at first. The chapter outlined such a childish notion of love, Regina struggled to take it seriously. It was such a silly little book she had mused as she thumbed through the pages quite quickly. It was not until she had finished the entire section of First Love that it dawned on her. Regina, herself, was once that silly childish girl in love. Her laughter was veiled ignorance. Every word of the piece was true. Her first love was the last love she had ever felt. It was the last love she would ever feel.

Regina watched the book sit exultantly in the flames. Her heart was pounding fast as if to reiterate the pain the words had caused her, as if to reminded her with each beat how useless the organ, itself, had become. Her hearts only purpose was pain, and as it pushed blood throughout her body that sorrow deepened further inside her and reach every inch of her.

She pulled the book out of the fire without even conjuring some sort of protection for herself. She was used to the feeling of red heat on her body. Regina had lost her first love, that was a truth she lived with daily. It was a pain that had brought on even worse circumstances into her life. Snow White was now that same child in the first chapter, she just had not found her first love.

Or perhaps she had, Regina thought as she flipped the book to the index. If love was a s powerful of magic as Rumpelstiltskin had detailed, then the Queen was aware that she would never be able to summon it. It was a great disadvantage and one Snow could possibly someday hold over her. So the Queen skipped head a few chapters to the section on _Unrequited Love.___

This truly had been a gift from Rumple. One that confirmed to her, that the Dark One indeed knew what her mind was planning. He backed it. He believed in her. Finally, someone did. Rumple had recognized what she had in the works. And this book would be her tool for it. If Snow White loved the Queen, Regina would have all control over her. She'd have the power to manipulate that love. She would have the power to break that girl into pieces.

It would be relatively simple. Snow White was already so prepared to give herself to Regina. The Queen had not expected what had unfolded that morning, but it somehow seemed like if it had been a long time coming. There was a release in that moment that had come from the younger girl and rushed into Regina. It had been exhilarating. It had been somehow everything Regina had wanted. She had finally felt some of the power she felt when she was younger before her life had started its decay. And the girl who had crumpled underneath her had somehow been changed. It was the perfect hook, and gift from the fates and a sign that Regina was about to become victorious.

It seemed no better time than any to continue on with her game, The Castle was moving quickly, from all directions. It was a huge event to prepare in such a small time frame. There would be eyes and ears down. Regina however went largely ignored, the servants usually eager to jump out of her way. So she waltzed down towards Snow White's room relatively alone. She was at the door, sure of what she wanted to accomplish yet with no plan for how to get there. She crossed the threshold anyways.

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	9. Chapter 9

The hands working so expertly at Snow White's waist tensed. The sound of a pin falling to the ground halted the chatter that had filled the room throughout the day. Snow White had been lost in her thoughts. She was too far into them to notice the shift in the room's conduct.

"Leave us," A voice said, cutting the tension it itself had created. The hands working at Snow White were gone in an instant. The Princess' back was turned away from the threshold of her bedroom, she was facing the window that overlooked the courtyard. She had been watching the proceedings in silence on a pedestal designed for the seamstress making her gown for the party. There were dozens of people moving back and forth bringing things into the castle. She let her mind wander as she watched them. Each one of these people had a story. They all had a life.

Snow White wondered how alike these people could be to her. She questioned if her story was truly unique as she wished there was someone in her shoes to offer some guidance. There was only one person who knew what was going on and even so there was no way the Queen knew how Snow felt. The Princess could barely understand Regina. She hadn't the slightest idea what was happening to the Queen.

There had to be something in common within the two girls, something that had pushed them together in such a way. Snow White had decided. There was no one else, not a single Soul that was experiencing anything even close to what she was battling. It made the Princess crave Regina more. Snow thought she could learn so much more about herself from Regina, she wanted to be able to do the same for her Queen. Heeled steps approached her. She was finally in the presence of Regina again, the day was late and the sun was falling and all of Snow White's wishes seemed to be coming true.

"I said, leave us," Regina's voice was further into the room now. Snow was so accustomed to Johanna's presence that she had not realized that her care taker was standing firmly by her side. There was a flash of anger in her brows. She stood with her back straight, defiantly.

Snow White heard Regina hiss, at the corner of her eye she saw Johanna flinch. A shroud of darkness filled the room as if the clouds were suffocating the falling sunlight. But the darkness had a purple tint to it. Johanna was shaking, but Snow White did not dare turn around to see what had her so scared.

"I don't like repeating myself," The Queen said calmly. Snow watched Johanna's head shake in quick agreement. Before she left her mark she squeezed Snow's arm. The Princess was not sure what Johanna was trying to communicate to her but she thought of it no longer as she felt Regina come up behind her and take the stop of her seamstress.

"You really are the fairest of them all," Regina said. Her voice was husky. Snow White had noticed the change. When the air first meet there was a lightness to her tone, as if each of her words were veiled in something reassuring and bright.

"Don't" Regina commanded as Snow white tried to take a step down from the pedestal she'd spent her day on. "Please don't turn around. I can't stand the sight of you."

The Princess froze in her spot. She was barely wearing a dress at all. Her body was covered in loss pieces of fabric all intricately pinned together. She felt so exposed and also to safe guarded. She wanted to let her knees unlock and just fall backwards into the arms of her stepmother. She wanted to fall into Regina and fly and be kissed. She wanted to look her in the eyes for long enough to be able to ask _why does this pain feel so good. _

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But the Queen was the one talking. She had stepped even closer to the girl. The Queen was much taller than her stepdaughter yet in her raised position Regina reached up to her shoulder blades. The younger girl's back was bare. Once complete the baby blue dress would reveal several of the Princess' freckles. It was a far more revealing cut than the dress usually ordered for the girl. Someone had to have purposefully adjusted the dress in lieu of the upcoming birthday party.

Regina had her hands on Snow White's exposed back before she could even figure if it was the correct tactical decision. Her words flew out of her mouth without being checked. Something was coming over her, the Queen hoped it was her magic.

"Do you think your suitors will care to appreciate the birth marks on your back?" as Regina spoke lazily her fingers played across the pale skin. The sight before Regina was as if the stars could shine in the sunlight, dark marks across fair skin. Snow White fought off a shiver as long finger nails traced out the pattern in her freckles.

"I hope a Charming Prince will." Regina continued. There was a deep dark violet hue emitting from her finger tips. Regina could feel her hands summoning each individual pin to fall to the floor. But the Queen checked herself. She was playing game, and it required a strategy. It required patience. Mostly, Regina chimed to herself, it required discipline. There would be no better way to toy with the girl than to keep in a state of wanting.

"Regina," Snow whispered in a shy breath. The Queen saw the girl's knees shaking. There was an obvious build up within her craving to be released. So the Queen pressed herself into Snow White's back, eliciting a sharp inhale from the younger girl. Regina thought about the book she had just read from cover to cover. It had made her think about the times she had felt love in her life, and what those scenes would look like if she was the third party watching from a far.

In her deepest moments of young love, parental love and true love there was always one common denominator. It was an embrace. So Regina moved slowly, each of her joints bent delicately as her hands went from the girls back down to around her waist. Regina pulled the girl closer as she pushed herself deeper.

Regina ignored the slight sharp pains that nipped at different parts of her body as pins pierced at her skin. The Princess' hands crossed her arms around Regina's and pulled at them, asking the impossible. To be closer. The Queen rest her cheek on the warm flesh of the Princess' back and held the tight squeeze.

"We can't" She said in a whisper. The contact felt real to the Queen, she had to remind herself that it was all orchestrated. She reasoned that her body related this contact to love and could be easily confused. But her mind was not a fool and it had chosen its words wisely.

Regina removed her cheek and her lips took its spot. She placed a kiss on dark beauty mark, and without lifting her lips continued. "I won't"

Snow White was holding on tight, not just to the embrace but to what Regina was meaning to deny her. Regina smiled at the hold Snow had on her, instead of letting go she just vanished. Leaving Snow alone, with the sensation of a few pins prickling at her back.

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